Mohigan Journal- 2-10-02
by Coach Hoffman
Well, the Varsity team (14-3) keeps on rolling, heading in the right direction. The key to this team making it to Charleston is its chemistry and depth. Our bench is contributing more and more and as for chemistry, we seem to be led by a different scorer every night. The game at South was one of the biggest wins in years for our program. In case you don't know, they don't lose on their court. We had many things to overcome that night, and the team exploded with a resounding win that was heard all over the state. Then on Friday, the Hawks came to the MAC and challenged us, but found out if we are hot that we are tough to beat. The first two minutes were probably the best minutes in the young history of the new gym. We were firing on all cylinders and found ourselves ahead 16-0. The nice thing is that the seniors are not the only weapons that we have as the juniors are starting to step up. Warren Baker, the analyist for WAJR made mention of our bench in his commentary. He said, " MHS is the deepest team in the area, and that will be a big advantage going into the post season. Teams will have foul trouble, an injury or sickness and it will cause them trouble. Morgantown has guys on their bench such as Geremy Rodamer that could start on most other teams in the state. MHS can sustain injuries or foul trouble, better than the other teams in the area." We can thank the hard work that the kids do in the off-season for this depth. In our program, the stars aren't the only ones who play basketball in the off-season. Everybody plays and works out. In other programs, their better players take off and play on all star teams. Our players stay together and play, which tends to allow them more opportunities. So, our worst players (others would like to have them), get better between seasons. Players in our program continue to amaze me with how much they improve between seasons.
The Varsity and JV will host Elkins on Wednesday. Elkins will bring in a D-1 caliber player in Nick Patella. Their stats say he is averaging 18 points per game, 9 rebounds per game and 9 assists pr game. Those are outstanding stats and our guys are excited about playing against him. He is the leading candidate for player of the year in the NCAC. Our guys have no chance for that award because we have so many outstanding players and a different leader each game. Picking all conference players from our team will be tough as we have 5 guys averaging double figures or close to it. Our team is not about individual honors, anyway.
Our JV team (9-6) is struggling to win as UHS used slow down tactics to beat us on Friday. It was a tough loss for our Sophomores, as they thought they were better than UHS. They found out that they have a lot of work to do. This group will work hard and continue to improve. One MHS fan rationalized that as these boys are in serious growth spurts, their timing is off. I can concur with that. I am asking people to play new positions and learn new skills within the system. We will take our lumps this year, so as to make us better. We are trying to become better players and sometimes we play outside of our skill level. But I encourage that as if you want to get better, you have to do things you are not good at. Each player has a resolve to get better and not many teams have as good an attitude as this group does after losing so many close games.
The ninth grade team (11-2) had a big win at West Fairmont on Tuesday and turned around on Wednesday and went to overtime with Bridgeport (the only team to beat them), and lost. Bridgeport is undefeated and has the best 9th grade group in the area. This week they host West on Tuesday and play at a tournament on Friday against East and on Saturday they will play the winner of the West- UHS game.
The Roudy Society was outstanding again in the win over UHS. I have never seen the kids at MHS rally around a team like they are this one. The student body is making a difference as our players are playing harder and harder every game. We need that support in the sectional if we want to advance. Swifty has mentioned that we want to order a few buses to take the society to Preston for the Sectional. If anyone out there knows of a possible sponser, let him know. It would be great if the kids didn't have to pay for their transportation.
In closing, I can't over exaggerate how hard these seniors in particular have worked. Their improvement since their Freshman year is testament to the work ethic that Coach Yester, speaks to each day. And speaking of Coach Yester, he continues to work on the little things each day in practice and that is what makes him such a fine coach. The players really respect him and work hard for him. We are lucky to have such a fine coach and gentleman here to work with our kids. He continues to scout games and watch the middle school teams, something that not many Varsity coaches in the area do much of. When summer league comes around, he will be there to watch most games. His work ethic is reflected in the teams we have.
Go Mohigans!